Ladies and Gentlemen! Dogs of all breeds! It is time for another action packed adventure in the DragonFire universe! An adventure that was two years in the making and is now finally in front of your very eyes!

As many of you know, this story takes place during the second act of Ballad of Dally, where its been a few months after Marshall's horrific accident, and it also serves as the first story of the Wintergreen trilogy, as it will be the Paw Patrol's first trip to the wolf sanctuary.

This is my first true original adventure story and I'm so excited! I hope you are excited as well and have fun reading!

Before we go, I have some obligations...

First, I do have some announcements about the release schedule at the end of the chapter so make sure to catch that.

Second, I do have to disclaim that I do not own Paw Patrol or any of it's characters. I only own the OCs created for this story.

With all that out of the way, lets get started as we dive back in to the Paw Patrol Universe with Paw Patrol and the Wolf's Emerald!


Chapter 1: Train Kept a Rollin

Around midday in the outer forest of Adventure Bay, it's usual peace and quiet environment was interrupted by a barrowing locomotive, screaming along the

railroad tracks shooting through the Adventure Forest, scaring any wildlife within a hundred feet.

As it chugs along at a blinding speed, a twelve-year-old boy is hot on its trail with his ATV, with a mixed breed pup in the back, getting ready to jump on to one of the cars.

Why? Because the train is currently abandoned with no driver or conductor, having been thrown off a few hundred yards back. To make matters worse, the town limit is not far at all, and soon, the train will speed past two busy railroad crossings, twenty yards apart from each other. If that wasn't enough, the railroad gates that warn and passers-by from crossing are off for repair in Adventure City, meaning that there was nothing stopping passers from going over the tracks.

Thankfully, Ryder stationed Chase at the first crossing to block it off from any unsuspecting patrons. Hopefully, Rocky can get the train to stop quick enough to not worry about the second crossing.

As Ryder pulls up right by the train car as close as he could, he calls out. "Okay Rocky, here we go. Bark your claws out and cling to the rail!"

On Ryder's command, Rocky barks out his claws and extends them to reach the railing of the car. It was a pretty far stretch, but after a few misses, Rocky successfully clings on to the back of the caboose, feeling the massive force from the train trying to pull him with it.

At that instant, Ryder shoots out a loud "Jump!" and Rocky leaps and soars onto the platform. Landing roughly on his belly which would've hurt bad had it not been for his vest.

As he retracts his claws, he barely hears Ryder say. "You good Rocky?!"

Rocky gives his body a quick shake before nodding back. "Yep!"

"Great! Hurry to the front and stop the train!" Ryder hastily orders as Rocky wastes no time in beginning his trek to the engine.

While he's on the move, Ryder makes a quick call to his police pup, who hopefully had the crossing clear by now.

"Chase! Is the crossing clear?!"

Chase graces Ryder with a wide smile. "Yes sir it is, Ryder sir. This railroad crossing is safe and secure thanks to me and my….." As Chase boasts, he spots a car coming close to his precious traffic cones. "Hey! Hey Hey Hey! Away from the cones!"

With that, Chase turns his attention back to Ryder. "Sorry about that Ryder sir. Anyway. Everyone should be out of the way of the train."

"Great job Chase!" Ryder praise. "Go ahead and get to that second crossing just in case we can't get the train stopped in time."

Chase gives Ryder a quick salute. "Yes sir, Ryder sir. I'll be there in a flash."

As Chase ends the call, Skye, who is flying above them all tracking the train and how much track they have, buzzes in.

"Skye, What's going on?"

"Ryder, the train is going faster than I expected. Has Rocky made it to the engine yet?" Skye asks.

Ryder shakes his head. "Nuh uh. Not yet. He just got on actually."

"Well, I hope he gets there fast. You're running out of track and the first crossing is only a few miles from you!"

Ryder ticks at that. Chase thankfully had the first crossing cleared, but the second was only twenty miles from it. Due to how fast the train was going, it would blast through the second crossing shortly after the first one.

Without missing a beat, Ryder switches to Rocky. "Rocky, where are you at now? Are you any closer to the front?"

He sees the mixed breed running as fast as he could. "I'm halfway there Ryder!"

Ryder hoped for Rocky to be at the front by now, he was still impressed that actually made in halfway in such little time.

"Get up there as fast as you can Rocky. The sooner we can stop this train, the better."

"I won't let you down Ryder." Rocky says, before Ryder switches back over to Chase. Pleased to see that he was already on his way to the second crossing.

"Hey Ryder! I'm on my way to the crossing right now!"

Ryder crunches his lips. "Well I don't mean to rush you Chase, but we are about to blow by the first crossing, and Rocky isn't even at the engine yet!"

Ryder sees a little sliver of panic show in Chase's eyes, however, it was immediately shoved aside by his sudden will of determination in those same eyes.

"Don't you worry Ryder, I'll be there and have that crossing cleared in no time at all." The shepherd unalterably claimed with a tilt of his head.

Ryder admittedly had a speck of anxiety at Chase's determination but felt that he could truly trust his police pup. "Okay Chase, but be careful, don't do anything rash or unsafe."

"Yes sir, Ryder sir."


After Ryder ended the call, there was one thing on Chase's mind, and that was the second railroad crossing.

He knew that he had little time to clear it. In respect of Ryder, if he were to be as careful as possible, it would be too late, and the train would blow by him if people would get seriously hurt.

For that, he'll have to speed, as much as he hates doing it.

While keeping Ryder's warning in mind, Chase sped up along the track, blowing by the various animals that thankfully scurried out of the way before Chase could hit him.

Thanks to him speeding, he came up to the second crossing and smiled in relief when he saw the new railroad signs that he forgot, had been installed just yesterday, were up and running and the gates were keeping anyone from going in danger.

Chase sits back in his seat and breathes. Somewhat chuckling to himself on the fact that he really didn't need to speed and thanked everything that he didn't hurt himself or any creature.

He touched his pup tag to call Ryder. "Ryder. The second crossing is already safe and secure."

"I hope so, Chase, because we are coming up on it!"

"You have nothing to worry about Ryder sir." Chase boasts. "The railroad should be clear for…."

"Chase! Ryder! There's a dog with its paw stuck on the bridge!" Skye inserts from her copter.

"Huh?" Chase says as he looks towards the bridge a few yards from the crossing. He didn't spot the dog, but did see a boy probably no older than seven or nine, running along the bridge.

Around that time, Chase's ears catch the sound of the engine. He rips back and sees the barrowing train more miles from the crossing.

"Aw crud!" Chase cursed, realizing that the situation has gotten way dire in mere seconds.

Immediately, Chase speeds cruiser across the road and over to the start of the bridge. It was then that he finally spotted the dog. A young pit bull pup stuck over halfway on the track next to a dodgeball. The young boy, assuming to be his owner, running like mad over to it.

"Chase, please tell me, there's a way you can get them off the track!"

Chase takes a quick look back and sees the train now approaching the crossing.

The easiest way would be to drive on the track to them, but that was very dangerous. His cruiser could get stuck and would be a sitting duck. Course Skye could help a lot, but there's no time for that.

The only other option would be to beat feet over to them and hope the can get the pup unstuck, hoping to anything that Rocky can get the train stopped in time, otherwise improvise.

"There is Ryder, but you're not going to like it."

Before Ryder could respond, Chase leaps out of his cruiser, and takes off down the railroad. Putting his full faith in Rocky.

Rocky finally makes it up into the engine and surveys the controls, being immediately intimidated by the number of levers and buttons on the console.

He thought to immediately reach out to Ryder, but he recalled what he heard through his pup tag and figured that he had no time to discuss, he had to act fast.

He calmed his mind and analyzed the controls of the train. Recalling in his head which was the brake.

"Come on, Come on, What is it?" Rocky ponders as he narrows it down to a lever and a handle. He didn't have time to really think so he just has to choose one.

He drew a deep breath and went with his gut. Pushing the handle all the way forward. As soon as he did, Rocky felt the inertia throw his body towards the controls, holding on to the railing beside him to keep him from crashing into it. The sound of squealing telling him that he did make the right choice.

Chase ran like mad getting up to the boy who was now helping the pup get unstuck. Hearing the train coming closer as it zips past the crossing. Though, he also heard the squeals from the train's brakes, telling him that Rocky managed to find the brakes. However, due to how fast the train was going, it would not stop in time for Chase, the boy, and his pup to get out of the way.

"Chase! Please tell me you got something min mind!" Ryder calls.

"In a few seconds, I will!"

"I was afraid you'd say that!"

"Don't worry, Ryder sir! I'll think of something, I promise!"

With that, Chase puts more into his stop as he can hear the train screaming up to him.

"Hey! Hey! You two! Run! RUN!" Chase calls out to the two. Still struggling to get the pup's paw unstuck.

As soon as he called out, the pup was finally able to get his paw unwedged.

"Cmon Michah! We've got to run!" the boy cries.

The pit bull tried stand and run but immediately yelps and squinches. "I-I can't My paw! It hurts! It hurts so much!"

Just then, Chase dives under the pup's belly, and picks him up over his back. He was thankfully light allowing Chase to continue to run while motivating the boy. "I got him! Run for it!"

The boy took off on Chase's command and ran as fast as he could. In almost no time, he was almost off the bridge, however, due to the added weight on his back, Chase wasn't running at top speed, and was still thirty yards away from the end, and the train was creeping up on them. There's no way they would make it, even with the train slowing down to eventually stop.

Chase had to act fast, or they will be railroad kill in less than ten seconds. The only thing he could think was a straight up hail mary, but it was the only way he can think of at this time.

After confirming to himself that the boy will be out of harms way, he suddenly stops and eyes the train, now within five yards of him.

"Hey! What are you….."

"Hang on!" Chase lets out to the confused pup, before he climbs the railing, and leaps off the side of the bridge within a millisecond of the train hitting them.

The pup on his back hollers in terror as Chase quickly scans the ground below them spotting two trees perfect for his net

"Ruff! Net!" Chase barks, as his launcher pops outside of his pack, launching the net below them and latching on to the two trees, providing a soft landing for the both of them.

The trees whipped back at the weight of the two pups, but graciously withheld the two pups a few feet from the ground.

"That wasn't bad now, was it?" Chase lets out with a smirk as the pup glares at him.


Ryder furiously scans the forestry below, trying to spot where Chase and the pup landed. He nearly went mad when he saw the shepherd run on the bridge and the train chasing after him.

As the train finally comes to a stop just shy from the end of the bridge, Rocky comes in through his pup tag.

"Finally, I got the train stopped!" Rocky pumps, but then had a sudden worry. "Uh…I didn't hit anyone did I?"

Ryder wasn't paying any attention to the mixed breed, still combing the forest for any sign of his police pup and the pup that went down with him.

Skye then comes in on the pup pad. "Ryder! Ryder! I found them! Their latched in Chase's net between two trees."

Ryder breathes a big sigh of relief, instantly calming himself. "That's great Skye, get down there if see if he needs any help. I'll be there in a second."

"Aye, Aye, Ryder!"

"Hey! Hello?! Can someone tell me what's going on?!" Rocky calls through. He had no idea what had happened.

"Shoot, sorry Rocky. I was so worried about Chase, I sorta forgot about you."

A cold shiver went through his spine. Making him think that they may have lost another member of the team. His heart stings at the thought as he also started to visibly shake.

"I-Is he okay?! Wha-What happened?!"

"He jumped off the bridge with a pup and landed in the trees. He's alright Rocky, along with the pup."

Rocky relaxed as soon as he heard that. "That's good. Really close."

"No kidding Rock. Hang tight, I'm coming to get ya."


After settling themselves and Chase puts his police cap back on, he looks over to the brown pup, who still looks a little shaken.

"You alright, pup?" He asks him.

The pup nods his head. "Ye-Yeah,"

"That's good. I'm glad your alright." Chase gracious.

"I-I didn't know you do crazy stuff like that, Chase." The pup comments.

"I really don't. But when little pups put themselves in danger like that, you have to go with your gut." Chase replies.

A soft whimper comes out of Michah. Chase keeps his stern. "You should know better than to go playing around the railroad tracks. Whether a train was coming or not, it's not a playground."

"Ye-Yeah. I know, b-but me and Gary were playing with our ball and it went over the tracks. I didn't want Gary to lose his ball, so I went to go get it and…"

"Got your paw stuck?" Chase assumes.

The pup dips his head sadly. "Ye-Yeah I did."

At that moment, Chase lowers his stern and softens his voice. "Hey bud. It's alright, your safe now, and I bet you won't do anything dangerous like that again."

The pup didn't say anything. Feeling totally embarrassed despite Chase's attempt to cut the tension.

The sound of a helicopter lowering above them made Chase groan. No doubt Skye saw this little stunt and no doubt she is visibly upset possibly more than Ryder is.

Speaking of Ryder, he now arrives along with Rocky and the boy who was on the bridge with them. As soon as stopped, the boy jumps off and immediately went over to the brown pup, wrapping him in a tight hug.

"Michah! You're okay! You're okay!"

Michah squirmed a little at the hug due to how tight it was but then nuzzled his snout in the boy's neck. "Yeah Gary, I am. Thanks to you and Chase from the Paw Patrol."

Gary lets go of Michah and looks at his paw. "Does your paw still hurt?"

Michah lifts his paw, still feeling tightening pain from it. "Yeah, very much. I can barely stand on it."

Suddenly, Chase was blindsided by a hectic cockapoo squeezing the life out of the shepherd.

"Chase! I was so worried! Are you okay?!" Skye hollers right in the shepherd's ear. Making him squirm in her grasp.

"I'm fine. I'm alright, angel. To tell you the truth, I'm not the one that needs your help." Chase inches out as he continues to squirm.

Skye lets go finally. "You're not?"

Chase chuckles at the cockapoo. "It's Michah. His paw hurts. Real real bad."

Skye spins around and sees said pup favoring his right paw that was still throbbing.

Seeing this, Skye's attention shifts to the pit bull. "Oh no! Hold on little pup! I'll get that take care of right in an instant!"

Chase smiles at his successful dodge for now. However, once he sees Skye totally occupied, he turns around to an unamused Ryder. He may have avoided Skye, but Ryder was a lost cause.

His cocky smile fades at Ryder's gaze. Knowing full well that Ryder wouldn't let himself be avoided as easily as Skye. "He-Hey Ryder. I-I already know what you're going to say. To tell you the truth, I'm not particularly proud of what I did either. I was just…"

Before Chase could finish, he was surprised by Ryder petting his head comfortably. Throwing the shepherd off.

"It's alright bud, I'm not going to lie to you and say that you had other options." Ryder says with an assuring smile. "I'm sure you thought of everything before you acted. I can't really fault you for that, even though it was dangerous."

Chase brightened with a smile matching Ryder's. "I-I was just doing what I thought needed to be done."

Chase's statement made Ryder's smile widen a little. "Exactly Chase. Which is why I made you team leader in the first place."

Chase wags at Ryder's praise, as Mayor Goodway with her pet chicken Chickaletta in her purse of course, arrives at the scene with a gracious smile.

"Oh thank goodness for you Ryder! I thought for sure we'd have a true catastrophe on our hands!" the mayor boasts.

Ryder scratches his head. "I don't know what you're thanking me for Mayor. It was the pups who did the work."

Mayor Goodway let out a sudden dramatic gasp. "Why yes! Of course! How silly of me to overlook the pups! Oh Chickaletta, you know how I get! How could you let me do that?!"

Chicaletta sounds off in response in response, of course completely oblivious to the mayor's comments.

After a quick laugh from the group, Chase then responds.

"It's no big deal mayor, we're just glad that no one was seriously hurt."

"Oh much so." The mayor bloomed as she pets Chase herself. "Especially thanks to you Chase. If it wasn't for you being so brave and quick thinking, we truly would've had a terrible tragedy on our hands."

Chase kept his warm smile and wags. "Gee…tha-thanks mayor."

"Hey, what about me?" Rocky whines. "I stopped the train."

The mayor's attention switches to Rocky. "Yes, you deserve enough credit yourself Rocky and you too Skye." At the mention of her name, Skye after finishing up with Michah, walks up next to Chase with a bright smile at the mayor's praise.

The mayor then looks to Ryder somberly. "I have to say Ryder. For the past few months, I've been quite worried for you all."

Ryder raises an eyebrow at the mayor. "Worried? What for?"

Mayor Goodway was notably nervous when she answered. "Well….you know…with everything that's happened in this year…..particularly with Marshall."

As soon as their dear friend was named, the pup's smiles all fade and a collection of whimpers flowed out for their fallen brother.

"Oh goodness, I didn't mean to bring him up!" The mayor squirms, instantly regretting even thinking about the dalmatian in the Paw Patrol's presence.

"It's alright mayor. I understand your concern, but I think I speak for everyone in the Paw Patrol…" Ryder took a glance from Chase, Skye, and Rocky, who all nodded in agreement of whatever Ryder was about to say. "…when I say that even though these past few months have not been great for us, we are strong enough to push on and be there for anyone who cries out for help. Right pups?"

After hearing such strong words from Ryder, Chase, Skye, and Rocky felt their pride shove away their sadness from before. Making all three of them let out a prideful howl into the air, causing the mayor to smile ear to ear.

"Oh how wonderful! We are truly lucky to have the Paw Patrol in our very town!"


About a half hour later at the lookout tower, Chase was going through the post mission checkup. A measure Ryder himself put in place a short time ago to help ensure his pups are good and healthy for the next mission. A measure that the shepherd himself strongly supported when Ryder first implemented it.

The problem for Chase right now was that the one performing these checkups was the acting team medic, Skye.

Normally, this isn't so much of a problem. Although Chase and Skye are very affectionate at this point, the two have a deep trust in one another, and feel that they have no reason to worry, at least on missions.

However, in this instance, Skye was very spooked by Chase's action with the train, and needless to say, was very thorough in this particular checkup. More than what was clearly needed.

"Skyyye. Come on now. I'm fine." Chase groans as Skye looks over Chase's paws.

"I don't think so Chase, you've got a lot of scuffs and soreness on you paw pads."

"Well, that's not really surprising, Skye. I did run on a railroad track after all." Chase replies in a condescending tone. "It doesn't really feel good, but it will be a lot better if you just leave them alone."

Skye looks up at the Chase with an annoyance. "This is not something for you to just brush off. You need to take better care of yourself."

"You're acting like I'm proud of almost getting hit by that train." Chase throws back. "Look. It's just sore. It's not going to fall off or something."

"No, but you were very lucky Chase." Skye points out. "One of these days, you're going to seriously get yourself hurt for throwing yourself out there like that."

Chase then gives a blank stare at her statement.

"What?!" Skye yips. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Really? You've got little room to talk Ms. Daredevil." Chase answers. "As many times you've flown in the face of danger? You're just as daring as I am."

"Not enough to run along a railroad track with a train barrowing after you." Skye deflected.

Chase counters with a smirk. "Or to fly so low in a tree infested forest to save a squirrel, and almost clip your wing on a tree?"

If Skye did have a comeback to that, she hesitated and gave up. "Fine….I guess I really don't have room to talk."

"Exactly." Chase states with a cruel smirk of confidence. "You know just as just as well as I do, what our job demands of us. If we were to play it extremely safe all the time and keep away from danger, we would lose more victims than we save."

"Yeah, I-I know that. You just scared me today, Chase. I saw that train come close to hit you and…I just freaked." Skye says with a mellow tone. Then she looks up at Chase with a little curiousness. "You know, that is a lot coming from you. You wouldn't have said that a few months ago."

Chase kept his smirk. "You're not wrong angel. It took me awhile to understand that. I hammered on you guys so hard about safety and it only caused more accidents to happen. I needed to learn to trust not only you and the others, but me as well."

Just then, Rocky walks by without saying a word to the two. Chase catches him in the corner of his eye and calls out.

"Hey! Rocky!"

Rocky turns to Chase, with a slight annoyance in him. "What?"

Chase was a little put off by Rocky's blunt attitude. "I just want to say good job on stopping the train. Had It not been for you, I surely would've gotten hit."

The smile Rocky gave back was a weird one, as if it was forced. That's what Chase thought anyway.

"Sure, no problem pal." The mixed breed says, as he turns back around and walks away. Not waiting for a response.

Skye inches over to Chase. "That's weird. Wonder what's wrong with him."

"To tell you the truth, I've noticed that he's been acting like that for a while now." Chase points out. "Almost to where he's not talking to us."

"You don't think it's because he's been thinking about….you know who…..do you?"

Chase reels a little, knowing who Skye was referring to.

It's been nearly half a year since the Paw Patrol tragically lost one of it's founding and beloved members, Marshall.

While the team continues on to this day, the pups and Ryder have had a difficult time moving on. The rescues have thankfully gone well, life at the lookout has changed.

A year ago, the lookout would've looked and sound completely different from now. The pups everyday would get up, eat breakfast provided by Ryder, then either play outside all day, play Pup-Pup Boogie, Watch TV, or just hang around until dinner time, and then go to sleep and get up tomorrow to do the exact same thing. Provided there were no rescues of course.

They had everything from a loving and caring owner, each other, a big yard to play in, and even a treat dispenser that gets topped off almost every day. With all that, the pups wouldn't have to think twice in saying that they would want to live here forever, as the place is literally a sanctuary for them. But in the matter of just a few months, it was the complete opposite. They may still be taken care of, but now they don't play and go outside as much as they used to, and if they do, it wouldn't be for long.

Marshall's life-sized statue on the lookout's back lawn and his sacred firetruck still sitting in its assigned spot, exists as a painful reminder of their fallen brother that was taken away from them so recently. It would be easier if they weren't there at all, but Marshall's firetruck is still used regularly on rescues, and removing the memorial was just out of the question.

Sadly, this has called the pups to coop themselves inside for most of their days, not wanting to be reminded of that fateful day. Whatever free time they had was spent laying on the bean bags just watching what came on the TV unless they had their own endeavors. The Pup-Pup Boogie game rarely came out also so the only thing they would do was watch TV.

Naturally, a big, wide wedge had formed in the team. If it weren't for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and of course the rescues, they'd probably never speak or even see each other for the whole day.

It was not all bad though. There were times where Ryder attempted to keep their spirits up and the pups, for the most part, have been trying as well. Though whenever they would start to feel better and actually play again, they would end up having too much fun and think about Marshall, then their mood would drain away like water.

It's gotten so bad that even the name Marshall was cursed to them. Like a bad word no one ever wanted to say in front of anyone.

All in all, Marshall's death was a lethal poison to the Paw Patrol's bond, that was dragging them further down into depression.

Now, it seems that Rocky is purposely keeping to himself and brushing everyone off for some reason, and it worries Chase to no end. Having been like that before and suffered because of it.

"I think that's exactly what it is." Chase deduces with concern. "There's no telling how much misery he's in. Knowing him, he'll probably hide it from us if we try talking to him."

Skye whimpers for her friend until a light bulb goes off. "Hey, what if we talk to Zuma. If anyone, he should know what's going on."

Chase thinks about it for a bit. "You know what? You may be right Skye. Zuma and Rocky are as close as ever. If anything, Zuma should at least know where he's going all the time."

"That's my point exactly!" Skye yips. "Come on, I think I saw him in the lookout."

As Skye said, they spotted Zuma as soon as they entered the lookout along with Rubble. They were actually setting up the Pup-Pup Boogie dance mats for some rounds. The two of them spot Chase and Skye and wags in excitement.

"Chase! Skye! You're back!" Zuma beams. "Evewything went well with the twain?"

Chase graces Zuma with a smile. "Yep. As well as stopping a runaway can go buddy."

Rubble smiles wide. "That's great! We were quite worried for you guys."

"Awww. That's so sweet!" Skye awed.

Zuma looks behind them for a certain pup. "Wh-Whewe's Wocky? Is he okay?"

Chase and Skye's smile diminishes as Chase answers. "Yeah Zuma, he's fine, but….he sorta blew me and Skye off."

Zuma's ears droop along with his head. "That figuwes. He's pwobably in Wydew's gawage wight now, wowking on something."

"That's actually what we want to talk to you about Zum." Skye steps up. "Rocky's been acting very strange to us. We're hoping you would know what's going on with him."

Zuma's tail stiffens and his eyes twitch, suddenly feeling pressure..

"Yeah, I'm a little curious myself." Rubble joins. "I mean I know we haven't really been ourselves since y-you know…but Rocky's been completely distant from us. Almost like we don't exist."

Zuma crunches his lips. "Y-Yeah…I-I've noticed it to. Got no idea what's up with him."

"Oh darn it. I guess you won't be much help after all." Skye deflates.

"Yeah…S-Sowwy dudes." Zuma brushes.

Chase however, was not convinced. He picked up on Zuma's attitude like a bad habit, and from there, knew for sure he was hiding something.

"Hold it right there Zuma. I think you know more than you're letting on." Chase suddenly claims.

"Huh?" Zuma pips. "Wha-What do you mean….."

"What I mean is your trying to shoo us off, like Rocky is." Chase continued. "You know exactly what's off with him."

"Look, du-dude. I-I don't know what you'we talking about." Zuma batted. "Wocky's acting wouge on me, and I have no idea why."

"That's hogwash Zuma and I know it." Chase pushes. "I don't know why you're hiding it, but you need to tell us."

Rubble steps past Zuma and confronts Chase. "Stop bullying him, Chase. If he says he don't know, he doesn't know."

Chase adverts his gaze. He knows for sure that Zuma is hiding something, but Rubble's right. He is bullying him, and it's causing Zuma to clam up.

"Zuma. Please you have to tell us."

Chase looks at Skye in surprise. Did she catch on too?

"I know you want to help Rocky just as much as we do." Skye states. "But we can't help him if we don't know what's going on. Please….for Rocky's sake."

The lab shifts his eyes between Chase and Skye, then turns to Rubble behind him, who himself has an intrigued look.

Feeling outnumbered, Zuma lowers his defenses and opens up with no resistance. "Okay, you got me dudes. I…..may know what's gotten into Wocky, and…..it may be somewhat my fault."

Chase exhales in satisfaction along with Skye. He never enjoyed lighting a fire under his friends, but for some strange reason, Zuma was hiding the truth and without that, they all wouldn't be able to help Rocky.

"Well, go on Zuma, fill us in." Chase urged.

"I'll tell you, but….please don't let him know I did, ow he would be mowe mad at me." Zuma requests, earning more intrigued faces away from the three. "You see, about a couple weeks ago, Wocky and I…had an awgument."

All three pups flinched in surprise.

"A-An argument? You and Rocky?"

"Well, I guess I wouldn't exactly call it an awgument Skye." Zuma admits. "Mowe like disagweeing with him and him snapping at me."

Chase, Skye, and Rubble couldn't believe what they were hearing. Rocky snapping at Zuma? Impossible. Rocky and Zuma are as darn close as they could get. What on earth would occur to cause such a blow up?

"Zuma. What happened? What made Rocky lash out at you?" Chase presses with curiousness bubbling over.

Zuma ponders for a bit, wondering how he could say his answer without outing the mixed breed as crazy. "I went over to the gawage to talk to him about something and it started out pretty well, but then….we somehow ended up talking about…." Zuma pauses suddenly. Almost resisting to say the name that squeezes their hearts these days, but at this point, it be ignorant to leave it out. "…..Ma-Marshall. I don't know how we ended up talking about him, but we did."

Just like always, Marshall's name tugged on the pup's hearts like chains. No matter how much time has passed since that fateful day, it will never be easy on them.

"A-Anyway, when we started talking about him, Wocky tried to tell me something I just couldn't believe." Zuma almost tears up, feeling that he was betraying Rocky in a way. "He-He told me that he-he didn't believe that Maw-Mawshall was actually dead."

A long sudden gasp escapes from Chase, Skye, and Rubble, being thrown for a complete loop.

"I-I know, I-I couldn't believe it ethew." Zuma comments. "I-I thought he was just playing a joke on me, but no, he was as sewious as one of ouw wescues."

No pup could fully process what Zuma was saying. Rocky in full denial of Marshall's death. It does sound like a joke like Zuma said.

Skye was easily stuttering, trying to fully comprehend. "Zu-Zuma, tha-that doesn't make sense. We all know, especially me and Chase, know that….Ma….Marshall….." Skye nearly caves. "Ma…Marshall d-died saving us."

Zuma nods. "Yes. I know. But it didn't mattew. Wocky insisted that Mawshall somehow suwvived the fiwe. But that's not even the craziest thing he said."

"Huh? What's crazier than that?" Rubble asks.

Zuma tears up more. As the thought of It nearly rocked his mind. "He-He also said that Mawshall….wa-wan away."

The loop they were thrown in before was now the size of a towering skyscraper. It was already reeling enough that their dear friend was denying reality, but thinking that Marshall, a beloved dalmatian pup who loved everyone around him like they were actually family, would just fake his death and run away from them? That was truly on another level of impossible.

"R-Run away? No, that can't be it. Rocky can not be serious about that!" Rubble reels, completely floored.

"Yeah, I can't believe that at all! Marshall would never do that!" Skye piled on, practically doing a million flips in her mind. "Marshall loved us as much as we loved him! There's no way he would just….just…..deow! I can't even say it!"

"I know! I know! I wish I was joking dudes but no. I'm totally sewious." Zuma reiterated. "I tried to tell him just how impossible it was, but he wouldn't listen. Kept going on about how "He's done it befowe" and "He wan away from his pawents" ow something. I-I couldn't see what he was seeing."

Skye and Rubble were completely stuck like an error message on a computer. They truly had no idea what to say or think of this. The only one who seemed to still hold themselves together was Chase; simply because he himself was in denial of this notion.

Marshall was Chase's best friend. He knew that dally front to back like a book he read so many times. Yes, Marshall did run away from his parents; on the belief that he was a hindrance to them, but Chase cannot believe that Marshall would have the heart to not only run away from them, but to do it so dramatically as stage his death to make them believe that he perished in a fire?

Plus, Chase saw it himself. Him, Skye and Marshall were running out of city hall and Marshall sacrificed himself to save both he and Skye from falling debris.

Not to discredit him, but he knows Marshall wasn't thorough enough and conscious enough for that matter, to put both he and Skye in danger like that. No matter how desperate he was, it just didn't fall in line with who Marshall was.

However, Chase couldn't waste his mind on that. The real priority was Rocky and how messed up his mind is to even think of this to be the truth.

"As troubling as that is Zuma, you still haven't told us why he lashed out at you." He reminds the lab.

"I-I was getting to that." Zuma explained. "Aftew Wocky told me that wediculous thing, I….I sowta came down on him. I told him that thewe was no way in the univewse that Mawshall would would just wun fwom us and not even say goodbye. But I think what weally huwt him was when I said that he was twisting his thinking to fall in line with his cwazy theowies. Then I told him that he had to simply let Mawshall go."

Silence fills the lookout as Zuma stood frigidly in between Chase, Skye, And Rubble. Shaking in his nerves as he felt that he just stabbed Rocky in the back.

The three didn't really need to hear the rest as they drew their own possible conclusions but Zuma continued anyway. "Af-Aftew tha-that…he-he scw—scweamed at me. To-told me to go-go away and-and I wu-wun to-to my puph-house an-and bawled my eye-eyes out. Just like…just like…ohhh man."

Zuma could hardly take it any longer. Tears started oozing down his face as he fell down to his hind legs and starts to sob. Skye launches and embraces him tightly. Allowing Zuma to sob into her neck like a baby, feeling overwhelmed with guilt for painting Rocky so horribly.

Chase turns around and starts to swim around in his thoughts. Rubble walks up next to Chase.

"Chase. What do we do? What can we do about this?"

"I-I don't know buddy." Chase hesitates to Rubble. "I-I didn't expect anything like this."

"But we can't let Rocky go on thinking like that." Rubble pushes. "It's not healthy for him."

"I know Rubble, but I don't think there really is anything we can do." Chase cuts solemnly. "Rocky's damaged right now, we can tell him until we're blue in the face, but I don't think he will listen to us, but he won't listen to us, not after what Zuma said to him."

Rubble dips his head and whimpers, feeling absolute powerless their friend in need. He had one sprinkle of hope though. One that could set everything right.

"What about Ryder? We could tell him what's going on and then he could try to talk some sense into him."

Chase cups his chin with his paw. "Yeah, maybe. It certainly wouldn't hurt to try."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Rubble urges.

"I'll tell you what." Chase says. "We need to wait a little. We had a stressful mission today and he along with me, Skye, and Rocky are still on edge. Not to mention, Zuma is completely stressed out. I think it wouldn't hurt to wait until dinner time, when we are all there, and not try to pursuit Rocky like a common criminal."

Rubble looks at Zuma with somber eyes as the lab continues to cry on Skye's shoulder. "Poor Zuma. No wonder why he tried to hide it."

"Yeah, no wonder." Chase agreed. "But sadly, I think it just made it worse the longer it went on."


What an exhilarating start and a drama filled one!

Rocky seems to be totally disconnected from the team and the pups and now is in complete denial of Marshall's very own death.

Is there anyway they can get through to Rocky and reel him back in?

Find out next Chapter!

Unfortunately, I have hit a little snag in the production of this story due to some personal events, so for now, I think I'm going to put this story on a biweekly schedule until I can get past this little roadblock. Yes yes I know, what's new right? But I promise you, the wait will be worth it!

With that, be here October 11th, when Chapter 2: Late-Night Rescue is posted!

Please review and let me know what your favorite parts and if you have any questions about the story or anything else, leave a comment or message me and I'll get back with you as soon as I can.

This is Sean Thames of DragonsFire Entertainment signing off!